That's the sweetest Coffee Bites can taste! :)

We were at the cell (it's the dingy room on 2nd floor of our college, where we, from the technical society of our college hang out and work). Gladly, there was no compelling smell of smoke here today, so it didn't feel like a drag for the time. "Break me Joe's jaate waqt 1-1 maarenge, abhi mood nahi hai" me and Mehul decided.

A fresh batch of First years had entered the college last month. This technical fest lined up and the amount of work pending was one of the reasons us Third Year students had no time for bird watching in the new batch. Heard that there were a few rare sights of beautiful non-dumb ones; but we'd assumed they'll be sincere and attending lectures regularly.. In addition to this, we didn't even get to announce about the fest in junior classes, the second year arses had taken care of that, so there was no chance of catching up with the new chicks.

Note 1: All the good things happen exactly at the time you give up expecting them.

A bunch of interested looking FE(First-year Engineering) girls were asking Akanksha (MDO) if they can volunteer for event work. A smart one was talking like their leader, asking for the editorial team. Well, she looked *searches for words* nice.. the 'lock-of-hair-on-cheeks-decently-dressed-sharp-nose-talkative-eyes-good-grammar' kind. Pretty, for that matter. Don't think I'm gonna remember what she wore that day, it's not a novel! Sky blue T-back, brown shrug + denim.*shakes head to avoid embarrassment* Okay, she was the prettiest girl I'd seen in three years.

Luckily(!), Akanksha happened to direct her to the Chief Editor (me!) and she looked at me. But...

Note 2: When you're staring at someone and they look in your direction, do not deviate your glance in a millisecond. That is observed despite of the limits of persistence of vision.

...Bravery is deceptive. (And these notes are the result, hence being unknown before the scene.) I quickly started to look for something to look at. There was NOTHING. I realized that I was caught and turned back to her, now coming in my direction.

She smiled and said, "Hi! Chief-ed?"
"Ravin. Yes..?" I replied.
"I'm Meera, first year, Electronics department. (Same branch! #win) Akanksha told me to meet you to see if I can contribute something for the magazine. I know it's pretty late, but we really really really had no time with Kiran ma'am's assignments and maths tutorials piled onto us the first whole month! Kuch rahega toh bata dena please.. I'd love to help."

Note 3: It is okay to use 3 'really's and talk with 32:1 word ratio, given you're pretty.

"Yeah, there's still a lot of work remaining.. no worries. You, good in creative designing and stuff..? We'll be ready with the proofread compilation by 2 days, you can start with the design ahead if you'd like to."
 "That'd be great! You know what, it's my friend's birthday today and look, we made this greeting card for her all by ourselves and she liked it SO much..*realizes the topic transition* I mean, yes, I'm good at design and drawing thingy!"

"Wow! It really looks great. Guess what, it's my birthday too!"
"Really?"

"No! :P "

We looked at each other for a tiny silent moment, and started laughing! I know it wasn't a good joke ...

Note 4: it's not like, I can't crack a good joke. It's just that when someone you like is standing across you, your head becomes desperate to see them laugh.

Note 5: when a girl laughs at your PJ, it's a thumb's up! So whenever you come up with a PJ, pray that she laughs.

...and I know it didn't make any sense, but she laughed. Those almost-closed eyes, that wrinkled nose now a little compressed, and the cutest grin any girl could ever carry.. Wow! And earlier I'd thought she couldn't look prettier!

Note 6: when you're looking at a pretty girl, you need to realize this:
She knows you're looking at her. They all know it. They just let you look at them when they like that you are looking at them.

I could've kept staring at her laugh like that forever, but Trishal called me up for some proofreading changes and I had to say "bye, catch you later" for the moment. She quickly said, "Ravin!"
I heard my name in her voice 5 times, I swear! Conquering the smile, I turned with a curious look.

"Shall I give my number, so that you can call when you're done with the compilation?"
"Oh yes! Here. Save it."
And with the pride of (never asking and still) getting her number, I took my mobile from her and joined Trishal at work.

Note 7: It's better to choose work over women. At any stage of relationship. Always. 

I thought the day couldn't be any better. But I was wrong. Turned out that the new girls had bonded easily with Akanksha and were going to join us for lunch at Joe's. While on our way, me and Meera, started to talk about the magazine, the branch, the professors, term tests, assignments, holidays and almost every topic we found! It was good that we belonged to the same branch. She wanted to hear all that she can from a senior and I just wanted this conversation to last forever.

Right then, Mehul called me, "hey RV, ciggy leke aa na"
Me: "No, I don't want any today"
Mehul: "FTW! (Saala chamdi)"

Note 8: When with a girl, you don't smoke. Ever.

So, we reached at Joe's, ordered lunch. She said chicken was her favourite (Yay!) and ordered grilled chicken sandwitch, recommended by me. Joe's waalaa was outta change and gave her 2 Coffee Bites in return. She put them in her bag and we went to our usual table. We had the most delightful lunch where I found out that she stays on my way to college, same bus stop. So, after our lunch, we agreed to meet after college to head home together and parted to our respective classes.

Note 9: Time flies by when you're with the girl of your dreams. The slowness of time kills you when you have to survive 3 lectures by dreadful professors before you meet her.

So, we met at the glass doors as decided and went to the bus stop. Continuous talking was obvious. The bus came too soon. Even if it had come an hour late, I would've felt it had come too soon. We sat together and I hated that wind because of which she had to tie her hair in a bun. Usually, I have my earphones plugged in, my ears bursting by the deafening metal, but today I could use the change of her humming some romantic tune by my side. BTW, she didn't sing at all. 

As I said, time flew quicker than my thoughts and we'd reached our stop. She lived a block ahead so I went along to drop her. I noticed her walk.. Man! She was graceful. Even with the kiddish all-nonsense scrambled chattiness she had a touch of maturity, a sense of composure to her steps. As we reached her building, she made a 'just remembered!' face and pulled out the Coffee Bites from her bag. She handed one to me and we both ate the chocolates. It started another conversation about coffee, the best things about coffee and the best of the coffees. 

Note 10: When you meet a girl who likes and understands coffee as much as you do, fall in love.

And so I did. We continued to meet on our way to and back from college. It felt like love and like, there should be a word greater than forever to describe for how long I wanted her to be with me. We dated for a year; but as our friendship started to be missing during the relationship crisis, fights took over the most of our bonding. We mutually decided to break the threads and frankly speaking, the untied version felt happy as much as the complete one.

I'm done with my degree now and moved on with my life. I've found somebody who loves me and we do not fight and when we do, the fights never win. Here's this good thing about crushes. You never have to forget them. They're always there, right in your heart. Safe. The just fade over time and something more meaningful, more real makes their appearance blurred and insignificant. But you can never forget the time for which the surreal was special. 

I know now, that it was stupid of me to describe her like the one and only angel God ever sent on the Earth. It was stupid to use the words 'forever' and 'love' and talk in superlatives all the time. It was stupid to write so many poems about her. It was stupid to think of her liking my favourite band and chicken as a 'sign'! It was stupid of me to be sitting with the entire group and periodically looking at the entrance when she was late. It was stupid to revise priorities for her. It was stupid to watch movies back-to-back and spend prize money (earned) on gifts. It was stupid to wait for her and die inside when I had to keep her waiting.
But then again.. Love is falling stupid!
And that was the sweetest Coffee Bite can taste. :)